Behind the Dragon's Eye
by AshLandWriter
Summary: Maleficent's backstory, given as a bedtime story to Mal. (Part of the Isle Problems series.)
1. In the Beginning

\- Posted: 02/21/2019 (American Standard)

**About the Story**: This is the bedtime story Maleficent told Mal to explain their family's history and her... safety tips. This short story is connected to my Isle Problems series. If you read this and like it, then make sure to go back to check my others. I hope you enjoy.

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**In the Beginning**

I've lived a long time, I've seen a lot of things, and I've ruled over a many, many people. Some called me a goddess, others a demon, but in any case I am and will always remain the most powerful being in the world for all time. Even more so than their so-called God, who supposedly created the humans to abandon them just as my parents abandoned me. Yes, that's right. I too had a beginning, and in the beginning there was a fairy who kept to herself and did no harm.

This fairy was my mother. She had these beautiful, black curls, and her eyes were the color of a pure winter sky. She lived in a faraway land, you know as Auradon. She kept herself hidden in the Enchanted Forrest, a simple cottage, as to not attract any unwanted attention from the villagers. She knew that their pitchforks— their fires, their God— would never let her live had they known about her magic. So, she never dared talk to anyone, anyone other than the farm family posted between her and the village.

My mother couldn't understand how the Van Dykes could be so comfortable so close to the village, when they were just as vulnerable as she. You see, Van Dyke's sister was ailed with the gift of sight. She saw the future in her dreams, so she and the brother lived alone so that he could keep her safe from the outside world; however, that didn't stop her from becoming a nurse to help the very humans who would come to despise her. The children, she said, were innocent. What she didn't know is that the child she had guilted my mother into curing would one day become a man of war, one only she would survive.


	2. There was a Dragon

**There was a Dragon**

One evening on my mother's return from the farm she heard something, a loud and pained roar unlike anything she'd ever heard before. She was drawn to it, pushing past the brush until she found the poor creature. It was a large dragon with sad, green eyes. She swore she could see him cry. She stepped closer cautiously, displaying her harmlessness so that the dragon could calm, before she inspected the wound penetrating his purple armor. It was then she saw another and yet another. He was riddled with cuts. He had been ambushed. She met the dragon's eye again, placing a hand to his nose, reassuring she would help him.

She had promised to return soon, and the next morning she did. She brought with her baskets of healing cream, and it took her the entire day to cover the cuts with them; however, it was no chore. There was something about this magnificent being that made her feel not so alone, and when she spoke it was almost as if he understood. She would complain about the humans, and he would snort fire. She would talk about her friends, and he would seem to hum in interest. She would show her sad loneliness, and he would move his head closer to her.

Over the next several weeks she would stay the night with him, detouring hunters and wild children, just to keep him safe. It was long, wakeful hours, but at times when she was too weak to produce her own magical fire, the dragon produced his. It awed her how much control he had, how small he could blow flames from his large mouth, and it always made her smile.

It wasn't all fun and games, though. A dragon his size needs a lot of meat, so when she wasn't putting the healing cream on him she was out hunting for him. She lured a dozen animals to him every day, but they never ran away. She saw how his eyes glowed at the animals, how they grew curious, and how they drew nearer to him. It was because of the dragon's hypnotism that he was able to survive his injury, because my mother knew there would have been little more she could do otherwise.


	3. He Became Human

**He Became Human**

After he had healed, the dragon refused to leave. He was sad at the prospect, and she felt his pain because she was the same. After months of getting to know this brilliant, beautiful creature, how was she supposed to just let him go off and get attacked again? Someone his size wouldn't be able to avoid the cavalry for long. And that's when she came up with the idea, to keep him safe she must make him as small as she was.

It took a long time to figure out just how to do it, but eventually she was able to turn him human, at least temporarily. It was something that would have to be kept an eye on so that he never had to revert back to his dragon form, but even in his human form he was still very much constrained. He was clearly still a dragon, purple hair with tiny horns for eyebrows and pointed ears. She still had to keep him hidden from the humans, which should have been easy to do with how far they'd lived from them.

Eventually, my mother introduced him to her friends, who were unsure to say the least. It was against God's will to mess with an animal's being, they had warned, to which she said that if that is so He may strike her down that very instant; however, no lightning stuck, no storm pursued, and the sun remained ever the same.


	4. They Fell in Love

**They Fell in Love**

The dragon had decided to name himself Dracon, as to feel connected to who he was in his soul, but that is not the only thing he connected with. You see, my mother and he spent a lot of time together, she taught him about the intricacies of human society, and they got to know each other very well. They would spend time out in the sun, gathering berries and hunting game, laughing the day away.

One day in particular, while they were enjoying a walk they had stumbled upon a green moonstone. My mother had swiped the dirt off of it, before she smiled at him. It was the same color as his eyes and so, then, they proceeded to dig it from the ground with their fingers. It was a really large stone, larger than either of them had ever seen before, and when their hands met as they took it out, they looked at each other for a long moment before proceeding to kiss. It's because of that stone that they became one, that I was born, and why you exist.


	5. They had a Child

**They had a Child**

There's not much I remember from my childhood. I had a very short one, after all. What I will always remember, though, is the toll it put on my mother to have to deal with both me and my father. We were heat-sucking monsters, draining the life from her. We could see it, and I could see how much my father was suffering just so I wouldn't have to. He would breathe fire into his hands, attempting to warm himself, but at times when he was too cold, he couldn't even do that. His ability was lost. He was going to die. I knew he was. I had to do something.

I was thirteen when I told my parents I was ready to be wed. They gave each other this horrified look. It wasn't because of my age. That was normal at the time. In fact, had I waited more than a couple years more it'd have looked suspicious. They knew this day would come, but they were scared. They were scared of the humans I would have no choice but to offer myself to. And they were right to be. After all, my attempt to court a human is the reason they were killed.


	6. And then they were Killed

**And then they were Killed**

I spent an entire year offering myself up to the humans, until I finally found the one. He was the perfect human, a strong man with an even stronger standing. He would be able to provide for me, and it didn't matter that he was twice my age. Like I said, that was normal. No. What mattered was his growing suspicion of me. My beauty and wit is what let me charm him into my grasp, but because I had no hypnotism there was nothing to keep him held to my hand.

The Van Dyke's knew it before any of us, as his sister woke in the middle of the night, gasping for air. She had seen them all die. Her brother tried to convince her it was just a dream, but she knew it was more. It felt like she was there, she'd said, so her brother rode on the horse to come warn us; however, his speed was not fast enough. By the time he'd gotten there and explained everything, sounds were heard from the outside. His horse had been slayed, and we had to run for our lives.

Our human comrade was the first go, arrows flying straight at us, as we fled through the thick of the woods. I fell out of my father's arms, as we hit the ground. Both of my parents layed there, dead, and I knew I could not make a sound. I covered my mouth, attempting not to breathe, as we hid behind the brush. The soldiers rushed past, and after the dead of night dissipated and the sun rose I held onto my parents' prized possession, that green stone, before I ran back to the farm. The seer was downdraught, but at the sight of me she attempted to smile. She let me in, hugged me, and kept me safe. I would spend many, many years with her and her new family.

So, what's the moral of the story? That's right. You must never trust a human, and because the Van Dyke witches saved me, you must always respect witches and their power.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

In the beginning there was a dragon, he became human, they fell in love, they had a child, and then they were killed. Little did anyone know that the dragon and the fairy became one when their spirits fled into the shiny stone, and their power would be harnessed by their daughter to curse the baby Princess Aurora. Aurora, herself, would then be taken by three fairies to the very same cottage Maleficent had grown up in. And just as Maleficent's childhood was taken in that cottage, so would the princess's. It's a cycle that will never truly end.

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\- So, what did you think of the bedtime story? Make sure to leave a comment. I hope you've enjoyed.


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